SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1652580
This article is part of the Research TopicTowards a Psychophysiological Approach in Physical Activity, Exercise, and Sports-Volume VView all 15 articles
Behavioral Regulation Sport Questionnaire and Sport Motivation Scale -II: A Scale Comparison
Provisionally accepted
Joana Bica1,2
Miguel Jacinto1,2
Rui Matos1,2
Nuno Amaro1,2
Raul Antunes1,2
Nuno Couto2,3
Luis Cid2,3
Pedro Forte4,5
Diogo Monteiro1,2*- 1Instituto Politecnico de Leiria, Leiria, Portugal
- 2Centro de Investigacao em Desporto Saude e Desenvolvimento Humano, Vila Real, Portugal
- 3Instituto Politecnico de Santarem Escola Superior de Desporto de Rio Maior, Rio Maior, Portugal
- 4Instituto Superior de Ciencias Educativas do Douro, Penafiel, Portugal
- 5Instituto Politecnico de Braganca, Bragança, Portugal
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The Sport Motivation Scale-II (SMS-II) and Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire (BRSQ) assess motivation regulation in sports based on Self-Determination Theory. This study compared their psychometric properties, revealing key differences. While the BRSQ demonstrated generally acceptable reliability, the SMS-II showed reliability issues in introjected, external, and amotivation subscales. Both scales faced convergent and discriminant validity challenges, particularly in distinguishing adjacent motivational constructs. Model fit required post-hoc adjustments (e.g., error correlations, item removal) to achieve acceptability. Invariance testing confirmed applicability across groups, but correlations within the motivational continuum deviated from SDT’s quasi-simplex pattern, likely reflecting motivation’s dynamic nature. These findings highlight the need for critical evaluation of motivation measures, emphasizing context adaptability. While the BRSQ appears more robust, neither scale is flawless, suggesting cautious interpretation of scores. Researchers should prioritize instruments aligning with their specific objectives and account for potential psychometric limitations. This study reinforces the importance of refining tools to better capture motivation’s complexity in sports.
Keywords: Motivation, self-determination theory, sport motivation scale-ii, behavioral regulation in sport questionnaire, self-determinant theory
Received: 23 Jun 2025; Accepted: 08 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bica, Jacinto, Matos, Amaro, Antunes, Couto, Cid, Forte and Monteiro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Diogo Monteiro, Centro de Investigacao em Desporto Saude e Desenvolvimento Humano, Vila Real, Portugal
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